The Esligers

2010-04-23T22:53:00.000+01:00

Welcome! We thought this would be a great way to chronicle our UK posting and for everyone to be kept up-to-date on our adventures. We hope you enjoy!

Busy Week

2010-04-23T10:55:00.000+01:00

I knew this week at work was gonna be busy. I have two projects on the go for Adult Social Care that has been hoarding all my time lately. The projects are due to complete mid May so as the deadline approaches it's picking up momentum. I racked up almost a full day of flexi time with the extra hours I worked. This is perfect as I can use the hours for next Friday when I'm off and not take annual leave. I did this last week too for the two days I took off to go to Malta. It works well as I don't have to touch my annual leave. Annual leave in this country starts at 24 days! That's double what we get at home starting out! Not all companies offer 24 days but many do. When I go back home this will be a negotiation to be had with a new employer!

I was able to speak to Keith a few times this week as he was alongside in Scotland for two days. He's doing really well and keeping super busy. He doesn't seem to mind it so far but it sounds like he doesn't have time to think about it. There are a few ships sailing together and the carrier, Ark Royal was briefly retasked to go to Spain to pick up stranded Brits. Keith's ship wasn't needed so they have started their transatlantic crossing. It'll be a fortnight now before a get to speak to him on the phone when they get into port. They have satellite phones on the ship but they're painful to talk on, so this early on we'll probably minimize talking on them. I'm doing well with him being gone. I have kept myself really busy and every time a thought of how long he's gone for creeps in I immediately dismiss it. It has worked so far. The worse thing I could do is dwell on it so I'm not. Of course I would much rather him here but that isn't an option!

After work I went shopping in Truro then went to Rach & Speedy's for dinner. Her sister is down so poor Speedy was surrounded by women watching a chick flick - 'He's Just Not That Into You' - grumbling obscenities at the TV. Haha. It was nice to spend some time with Rach and her growing belly. 3 weeks to go!

Train Back to Cornwall

2010-04-18T10:49:00.001+01:00

Last night it was confirmed my flight back to Cornwall wasn't happening. UK airspace was still closed. I booked an early ticket on the train and was on my way at 8am this morning. Just my luck - I always travel to London via train and this was the first time I flew! Flying is much nicer when you can be there in an hour rather than a 5 hour train journey. Thankfully, Rach came and picked me up at the train station and drove me to the airport to get the car. What a nuisance! The train station is 30 minutes from home and the airport is a further 30 minutes! So after a 6.5 hour train ride (had to switch trains from April's) I had to back track to get the car. I eventually got home at 4pm. I really hope mine and April's trip to Crete in two weeks isn't like this one!

Hampton Court Palace

2010-04-17T10:42:00.001+01:00

After much deliberation on what to do today - mostly which palace to visit - we decide on Henry the VIII's Hampton Court Palace. April and I spend 5 hours touring the palace and the amazing gardens. She has the same camera as I do so the two of us were like the paparazzi! Mid afternoon there is wine served from the fountain in one of the squares. Can't pass up that offer! How nice sitting beside a fountain at the palace, basking in the warm sun and drinking a glass of wine. My kind of day! After the palace closed we headed back to April's for supper and more wine.

I'll have to try and figure out how to compress my photos to upload some here.

Busy London

2010-04-16T10:12:00.001+01:00

What a sleep! I feel like a new woman! So what does today bring? I found an internet cafe where I could chat with April on msn to make plans for the evening. She's one of the Canadians here that I met on one of the Xmas Markets trips and lives just outside London. Once a plan was made I headed to St Paul's Cathedral. At this point I have already thought I should never have left Cornwall - cancelled flight, mobile phone running out of credit and the top-up system is down, my phone is now almost dead because I used it so much yesterday and I didn't bring my charger as the charge normally lasts a week and now there are significant delays and many routes on the underground trains are halted due to a person under one of the trains! It takes me over an hour and 4 tube rides to get to where I want to go rather than 20 mins and 2 tube rides. The disturbing thing was the announcements at the tube stations stating a person is under a train! Grim!

St Paul's Cathedral is beautiful. I've been here before but not inside. It is amazing to stand inside and look up the aisle imagining this is where Princess Di and Prince Charles were married. I tour the cathedral and buy a few trinkets. I have to say it is beautiful but not as impressive as Westminster Abbey or St Peter's Basilica in Rome. After my tour I decided to catch a bus to my destination as the tube is still experiencing delays. I haven't used the London bus system before - how hard can it be. After figuring out on the map where I am I see the bus should run almost the same journey as the tube I need back to my hotel. So I walk to that bus stop and am on my way. I have to make one switch to get to my hotel and it was that easy. Minus the mass amounts of traffic! I know now why I take the tube - traffic doesn't slow it down! The bus was great as it was a double decker so I could easily see parts of London I haven't seen before. But because it's London it's always busy then add on that it's a Friday and it's sunny! Way too many people for my liking! It is great to be here but doesn't quite compare to a warm Mediterranean Island! I know, poor me 'stuck' in London but for those at home it would be like traveling to Halifax then finding out your Dominican trip is cancelled so you end up spending the time in Halifax - a city you travelled 5 hours to and have been many times. It's just not the same is it?

April meets me for dinner at a noodle bar in Chinatown then we stop into a nice cocktail bar for dessert and a drink. Then it's off to see Mamma Mia the musical! These seats are even better than the one I had last night at Phantom. I may have spent a small fortune on seeing two shows! Mamma Mia was awesome! Very funny and a feel good show the same as the movie. At the end the few hundred people in the theatre were standing up signing and dancing in their seats! Fab! Tonight I'm crashing at April's so we head back to her place in Farnborough.

Malta a Bust!

2010-04-15T09:55:00.000+01:00

Another short week at work! Wednesday night after work I flew to London as my flight to Malta was leaving at stupid o'clock Thursday morning. I met Stacey, D'Arcy and the kids at our hotel and the next morning at 5am we were on our way to Gatwick airport. As soon as we arrived we were told our flight was cancelled. Well that sucks! Stacey and family went back to the hotel but I stayed at the airport. I was determined to go somewhere even if it wasn't Malta.

At this point some flights were still departing so I had hope. The queue for the internet computers was painful as everyone was trying to rebook their flights. Once I got on the computer the speed of the internet was even more painful. After looking at several options and trying to get on Eurostar's website without any luck I decided to speak with some of the airline desks. British Airways was my first stop and I quickly learned I wasn't going anywhere quick! He did tell me that Air Malta's morning flight was possibly going so I hoped on the airport bus and went to the other terminal to check it out. The North terminal was more insane than the South! Mass amounts of people, many taking up a spot on the floor waiting on the fate of their journey. I spoke to a random ticket agent about the Air Malta flight and she said Air Malta was deciding at 9am if the flight would go and she wasn't able to give me a price. It's 6:30am at this point. Ugh. I guess I'll find a floor space like the rest.

At 9am I went back to the desk and the flight was on but extortionately priced - more expensive for a one way ticket than my entire return journey with EasyJet! That was a quick decision maker! At that point I came to the realization I wasn't going anywhere. Atleast not abroad. So London it is. I went back to the internet computers and booked myself a hotel. By 10:30am I was on the Gatwick Express into London. If I'm staying in London I'm seeing a show! I went straight to Leicester Square to the ticket agent and bought a decent seat at Phantom of the Opera's evening show. I eventually made it to the hotel and crashed for an hour and a half. Feeling a bit refreshed I headed back out for dinner and the show. Phantom was amazing! I would gladly see it again. I so can't wait to hit the hay after this day!

Ladies Who Lunch

2010-04-11T20:17:00.002+01:00

Ah another morning of birds chirping and sun shining. Yay!

I was out of bed at 8:30am and started my many hours of cleaning. I had no intentions of it taking so long but I got in a groove. Bathrooms cleaned, floors vacuumed, floors mopped, house tidied, laundry done and hung out, recyclables taken to the tip, groceries bought and many other things! Whew I need a nap!

Met the girls (Sarah, Stef and Elly) for lunch in Falmouth at Gylly Beach cafe. It was nice to catch up and be around other girls who are all in the same boat. Two of them have their partners away with Keith and Stef's husband is in Oman. It's comforting to be around those who understand life as a military spouse and dealing with our husbands/partners away for extended periods and just getting on living life on your own.

Mowing & Brandy

2010-04-10T20:04:00.000+01:00

Glorious sunshine! I absolutely love waking up in the morning to hear the birds chirping and opening the curtains to a bright sunny day with beautiful blue skies.

Unfortunately just because Keith goes away doesn't mean the mowing does! I have fought this chore but have finally succumb. I figure I should do it at least once...I guess. Ugh. So on Wednesday Keith gave me a tutorial! I had no idea how to even start the damn thing! So here goes my first attempt. The most hilarious part was definitely trying to start it! I reckon I could put my back out! Haha. We have quite a large lawn so I got on with it and finished in 45 minutes! This was impressive as it normally takes Keith about that. I was determined to do it as fast! It isn't pristine like his but it looks good and the main thing is - it's done! I was completely knackered afterwards as my scrawny arms had a good workout. I understand now why gardening burns so many calories and I have confirmed that mowing is definitely a blue job!

Last fall Keith and I made apricot brandy and sloe gin. To entertain myself I decided I would start a few batches of brandy today. As I couldn't get apricots, I decided on plum, apple & pomegranate and mango. I now have 3 lovely jars slowly preparing themselves to be consumed in 3 months. It's the easiest thing to make. It's basically fruit, sugar and cheap vodka mixed in a glass jar for approx 3 months. The fruit flavours the vodka and the sugar sweetens it and makes it syrupy. It is so good! Hopefully these ones will be as good as the apricot. Now the painstaking wait to try it!

Keith Deploys

2010-04-09T21:48:00.003+01:00

Keith deployed this morning for an 8 month tour! The first few weeks he is off the coast of Scotland then they begin their transit across the Atlantic. The ships will then spend the next 4 months sailing with the Canadians, Americans and many other countries doing exercises. Somewhere between mid July and mid August he'll have two weeks of leave which I'm planning on meeting him home for - or somewhere in North America! If we're lucky we can spend the time in NB with his family. After his leave the ship will sail to the Falkland Islands which are off the coast of Argentina. It will be a very long deployment. To keep myself busy I have booked a few trips over the next 8 weeks. Malta next week, Crete the first weekend in May and Sweden & Norway the last weekend in May. The first two trips will be with other Canadians and the Scandinavian trip will be on my own! It should be an interesting adventure!

This morning was obviously sad to say our goodbyes but my coping mechanism is to not focus on the length of time he's gone for otherwise I'll go crazy. However, while at work I saw the two Merlins fly by my window on their way! I shed a few tears watching my babe leave. :( It was helpful to have a bowling night with work tonight to keep my mind off it all. These months will definitely have their ups and downs.

I think the hardest thing about having him away is the communication. It tends to be erratic with no constant contact. Depending on where they are and what they're doing the satellite can be down which means no phones or email. Each time I receive an email I never know when the next one will arrive. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week. And I just have to assume that everything is okay if days go by as there's no way for him to give me the heads up he'll be out of contact. Not having him here to kiss and hug me when I come home and ask how my day was is tough. I have to talk about everything via email and of course it's just not the same. He only gets 30 minutes a week to call - that's not much time to hear his voice and cover everything from the week. It can be stressful trying to figure out what to talk about - you don't want to spend those few minutes chatting about house stuff like bills/errands/etc. You want to chat about how you're feeling but you don't because you don't want to have an emotional phone call. It's difficult! And what if you miss THAT call! This means showering with the phone and basically carrying it with you everywhere throughout the house so you don't miss it! Oh the things to look forward to!

Anyway, last night we had a great evening. It was sunny and warm so we barbecued a feast and sat outside at the picnic table and enjoyed a few drinks soaking up the great weather together. I will miss those spring/summer evenings together.

The Last Two Years!

2010-04-09T20:45:00.000+01:00

So it's been almost 2 years since I updated the blog! Where does the time go!? I seem to be good at keeping myself busy or making excuses to not update. Anyway, here I am! And here's a brief summary of our 2008-2009:

My first trip home to Canada was fantastic! It was so good to see family and friends after a year of being away. I was able to do loads of visiting and hiking and even got in some lobster fishing. What a treat since I didn't get any lobster last year! My cousin Tanya came back with me to the UK and we spent a very busy 2 weeks showing her around Cornwall, Bath and London. We had a blast!

I was very lucky to have a good friend Jamie move to the UK while I was at home. Jamie stayed with us for a few months and we did lots of touring around the UK. We even made a trip to Paris to see Madonna in concert! What an experience! Paris is an amazing city!

In September, I started work at Cornwall County Council as a Programme Analyst. I was originally brought on for 6 months but then I was extended another 6 months. I then moved to an internal 6 month contract. During that internal contract I went through a competitive recruitment process for my job and got it! I'm now a permanent employee. Thankfully as I need to support my travel habit!

End November I went on my second Xmas markets trip to Europe. This year we went to The Netherlands (aka Holland), Germany and Belgium. It was another fun trip but I highly recommend the German markets over the Holland ones. We (including Jamie) spent Xmas in Devon with Dale and Lauren and family.

Most of 2009 was spent wedding planning. It was great to finally be able to have a wedding! We had an awesome day. The wedding and reception were held at the Point Cottages at home in Ingonish.

I was very lucky to do several trips in 2009. In April I met Keith in Muscat, Oman and spent a few days lounging on a beach in 35C temps. After I left Oman I spent a few days in Dubai on my own. What a trip! The Middle East is such a contrast to here and it was amazing to experience it. Keith and I went on a WWI tour with the Canadian detachment to Belgium and France. That was another amazing experience. We hope to do a WWII someday. In August we went to the Lake District in northern England with Dale, Lauren and kids. What a beautiful place! Mountains and lakes as far as the eye can see. Stunning! Then it was home to Canada! Had another great visit although most if it was consumed by wedding planning.

Matthew came back with me this time around and stayed with us for a few months. I took full advantage of having a travel buddy as Keith isn't much of a traveler. Matthew and I went to Dublin, Ireland in November, Frankfurt, Germany for the Xmas markets in December and finally Rome, Italy in January! There was no shortages of stamps in our passports!

In July Keith and I were lucky (along with many other Canadian Forces members) to attend the annual Queen's Garden Party! What a treat to have lunch at Buckingham Palace and see the Queen!

Keith had many trips away last year with his squadron doing the Oman rotation. He spent approx 4 months in Oman over different periods, went to Norway and did some training in Southern England. He was probably gone for a total of just under 6 months of the year.

That's all the big stuff I can think of over the last 2 years. So that's a quick summary of what we've been up to! I'm sure I've missed some stuff! I'm going to try to keep this updated now that Keith away.

Home to Canada!!!!

2008-05-20T15:54:00.000+01:00

I have been looking forward to this day for a year! And it's finally here!

I didn't end up sleeping great last night. The room was cozy and clean but the bed felt like I was sleeping on springs. The cheap price I paid also meant a shared bathroom and I could hear people from the other rooms opening and closing their doors through the night going to the bathroom. So I woke up every 2 hours and that was probably ostly due to my excitement to go home.

I got up at 6am, got ready and walked to the train station for 7am. Caught the hour train to Gatwick which seemed to take forever. Finalyl arrived at Gatwick just after 8am and wow this airport is crazier than I thought. I think everyone flies out in the morning because the place was very busy. I eventually found the Air Transat check in after 15 minutes of walking around and finally asking someone. No wonder I couldn't find it - it was hidden down a flight of stairs. I walked right through the check in and security as there were no lines up - how nice!

I spent the next few hours checking out the shops, which there are a lot of. I bought a bottle of Pimms (British liquor) to bring home. It ended up being an eventful visit to Gatwick with a fire alarm. Nothing major, just a nuisance more than anything.

It's time to board!! By midday I was in the air and on my way to Canada! I sat with a lovely lady on the flight. She's British but has lived in the Valley for 30+ years. The flight was uneventful and pretty enjoyable as I had paid a small fee for a better seat which left me ots of leg room and a wider seat. It was great. We arrived in Halifax 40 minutes early! I'm on Canadian soil again! Yay! As we taxied towards the airport I had to fight the happy tears. I was doing fine until I saw the Canadian and Nove Scotia flags. What a feeling to see those again.

I could barely contain myself in the Customs line up. By the time I got through customs (which wasn't a problem at all) and got my luggage it was our original landing time. It was great to arrive early except no one else knew so nobody was there waiting for me! I ended up waiting 20 minutes before Mom and Lexie arrived then Aimee, Lynden and Jamie were right behind. I was disappointed to not have anyone there when I arrived but was so happy to see them all when they finally did. What a feeling to see my Mom after a year and 2 months of being away!

We chatted for a bit then hopped in the car to do the 5 hour drive to Ingonish. We stopped at the causeway for supper than I drove from there for an hour and a half or so. Mom and Lexie drove to Halifax this morning and Mom has to be up at 3am for fihsing tomorrow so she needed a snooze in the car. I was pretty wired so I didn't mind. It was nice to sit on the left hand side to drive! I ended up driving on the wrong side of the road for a minute when I took the turnoff to the ferry! I didn't even realize, it was Lexie that said 'Mandy, you're driving in the wrong side of the road!'. Too funny! I had no idea.

We arrived home at 9pm and I ran into see Dad. Once again what a feeling to hug Dad after so long. After dropping Mom at home I popped out to see Nan and Gampie, ran to Deb's to pick stuff up, dropped into see Nanny Neil then to Karen's for a few minutes. When I got home at 10pm Graham was home and I got another big hug from him. So weird to come home and Matthew not be here. Really disappointed he won't have a chance to come home while I'm here. I crashed hard by 10:30pm and fell asleep so happy to be home.

Off to London!

2008-05-19T15:41:00.000+01:00

Said my goodbyes to Keith this morning when he left for work. I'm really going to miss him. The hardest part about going home is leaving him for a month.

Did some last minute running around into town and picking up munchies for my train journey. All set and ready to go with room still left in my luggage! Is that even possible? I actually went around the house making sure there was nothing else I should take with me to fill the space. I wanted some space as I'll be buying some clothes at home, but this was more space then expected. I'm impressed with myself!

Headed out at 11:30am to drive to the train station in Redruth. Keith has a simulator today and it was much more convenient for me to drive myself and him pick the car up later. I caught the train just after 12pm and was on my way. I arrived in London at 5:30pm then made my way to my hotel via the tube.

The hotel room was small which is the norm in London. That never bothers me though because who really spends time in their room when they're in London? After changing and freshing up I went touring. I was meeting Anya and Horacio at 8pm so I didn't have time to go too far. Instead I checked out the St Pancras International train station where I am catching my train to Gatwick in the morning. I hadn't been in that station before and didn't know much about getting to Gatwick. Figured it would be safest to check it out now so when I arrive at 7am I know exactly where I'm going and what I'm doing. The St Pancras station is a new building and is very impressive. It's packed with fancy shops and cafes/restaurants/etc. It is the station where the Eurostar train leaves from England to go to Europe so it's a very busy and massive station.

After I gathered all the info I needed and bought my train ticket I hopped on the tube and went to Livepool Street where I would meet the crew. I walked around a bit as I arrived early. Liverpool is on the edge of the financial district on London and everyone is in a suit. I felt a bit under dressed! Horacio met me at 8pm and toured me around this area of London I hadn't seen before. We met Anya at the Ma'ida restaurant for Indian. We had a delicious dinner and chatted for awhile. We finished around 11pm and I hopped back on the tube to the hotel.

Oh my God, I'm going home tomorrow! Am I going to sleep tonight?

Packing Day

2008-05-18T12:27:00.002+01:00

Happy birthday Nanny Neil! Nan is 89 today. Wow!

What a lazy morning. We stayed in bed until almost 11:30am! Not hard to tell we don't have kids. I was taking advantage since I'll be away from Keith for a month.

Today I'll finish packing and doing the last minute things that need to be done before I leave. I head out tomorrow as I stay in London for the night. It worked out to be cheaper to take the train up in the afternoon and stay at a hotel then taking the overnight sleeper. Keith will drive me to the train station tomorrow at lunchtime and I'll arrive in London around 5:30pm. I'm meeting Anya and Horacio that I worked with at Aukett Brockliss Guy. They work in the London office and we thought it would be nice to get together. Horacio knows a really good Indian restaurant so we'll meet there for dinner. Yes, more Indian! I think Indian cuisine is more prominent here than English. The Brits love their curry. After dinner, Anya and I will probably walk around and check out the city. Originally I had been planning to go to a show as I've been wanting to see Chicago or Les Miserables or something along those lines, but then I made plans with Anya so I'm not sure what else I'll be up to.

I'll crash at the hotel for the night than I'll be up early to catch the hour tube to Gatwick. I fly out at 11:40am Tuesday with Air Transat but they require you to check in 3-4 hours earlier for international flights. I'll arrive in Haliafx at 2:40pm where Mom, Lexie, Aimee and Jamie will meet me. Yay! I can't wait!

The day after tomorrow I'll be in Canada!!!!

Falmouth & Penryn

2008-05-17T12:19:00.002+01:00

Happy birthday Travis!

It was suppose to be a drab rainy day but it wasn't as bad as expected. It was overcast but atleast it didn't rain much. After dropping all the recycling off we spent the afternoon in Falmouth going to Trago to look for storage containers, walking around and dropping into the Kind's Head pub for a beer and cider. On the way home we went to B&Q and Asda for a few things we needed to get and a few last minute items for me to take home.

I was planning tomorrow as my packing day but I decided to do some of it this evening to get it out of the way. I got quite a bit done but still have more to do.

Keith and I went to Anglo Asia for a late supper and enjoyed the usual good Indian food. We got back home around 10pm then watched a movie 'Michael Clayton'. Good flick - I'm a fan of George Clooney.

3 days until I go home!

Dentist - Fillings

2008-05-16T12:11:00.000+01:00

Had my dentist appointment first thing this morning at 8:30am. I was apprehensive about this dentist doing my fillings because one of them is on a tooth that my plate sits on and is such a pain in the ass to shave down to fit my plate over it. And I was worried that if it didn't go well, I only have Monday morning to get it fixed because I'm 2 hours from my old dentist in Sydney once I arrive in Ingonish. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised as it all went very well.

It took a few hours for the freezing to leave my face so I did some stuff around the house until it was gone then I headed to Penzance. Spent a few hours there picking up some things and searching for some rubbermaid like containers. Once again, there is little selection and it's damn expensive! Came home empty handed with that item. We have only been here a year but we've already accumulated a bit of fancy dress costumes and I was hoping to find something to store them in in the garage. Oh well, they'll just stay in the storage room until I return.

We enjoyed a quiet evening making some appetizers to munch on while watching tv.

Cinderella

2008-05-15T12:01:00.000+01:00

Jamie Frees finishes work today as she'll be moving to England on Tuesday! We have such funny timing - her and I have been anxious for months for her to get here and now it works out that she's flying to the UK the same day I fly to Canada! What kinda of timing eh? She doesn't fly out until just before midnight so she's actually going to come to the airport to see me when I arrive. She'll be living about an hour away from us so it'll be nice to have her so close.

Today was a quiet day. I decided to actually sleep in a bit and try not to think about things that need to be done. Eventually I got my butt in gear and decided to play Cinderella for the day. Haha. I cleaned the stove - everyone's favorite job! Then cleaned the fridge which is another wonderful task. And spruced up a few other things in the kitchen. Why am I cleaning before I leave? Well that's a good question! They both really needed to be done so that's the only reason, everything else Keith can look after. Haha.

Went into town for a bit to run a few errands and grab supper food. That was the extent of the day.

Dentist - Cleaning

2008-05-14T14:36:00.004+01:00

Had a dentist appointment this morning for a cleaning. So far everything they do here is very similar to home except they don't do fluoride treatments! The hygienist told me she did one once and that was during her training many years ago - just so they would know how to do them! They also don't have fluoride in the water here - no wonder the Brits are known for their bad teeth. The hygienist was a sweet Scottish lady and she was great. I'm always apprehensive to go to a new hygienist because I went to one in Halifax years ago and she was so rough my gums hurt for hours afterwards. Thank God I found another one in Halifax that was great.

I may have mentioned before but there are 2 types of dentists in the UK; NHS and private. The National Health System dentists are paid for by the NHS similar to the doctors visits except there's a small fee to pay for the minimal service the dentists provide you. There's also the private dentists which are exactly what we have at home - we pay for everything we get done at the dentist. I have opted for this as Dale had warned me about his NHS dental experience. The NHS dentists do as little work as possible for the fee you pay as the fee is subsidized by the NHS and is minimal. It's hard to explain so I won't try further. Because of this I have chosen a private dentist as I want the best service and care I can get and also because the Canadian Forces pay most of the bill.

After back from the dentist I packed up all the gifts I'm sending home. I'd hoped to do it earlier in the week but the last item just arrived yesterday. I sent it off and now it may arrive just before I leave home to come back here! So far that's been my day. I have to pop back into town and either do a bit of cleaning or French training - I'll decide when I get back.

I decided to do some of the French as it's much more interesting than cleaning the stove and the fridge!

The Lizard

2008-05-13T13:45:00.004+01:00

Spent a few hours trying to figure out my damn taxes. What a pain in the ass! After a lot of reading I'm still no further ahead. Well, it doesn't feel like I am anyway. It's so frustrating to figure out. The Brits don't do tax returns! How sweet is that? Everything is deducted and submitted by the employer to HM (Her Majesty) Customs and Revenue - same as home but they don't so a return here. Not sure how it works when you have charitable donations and such. Even student loan payments are deducted from your pay! Everything seems to be quite interconnected here which is a good thing in this sense. Still, I have to do a tax return because I need a foreign income amount to put on my Canadian tax return. And I have to do a Canadian return because I worked from January to March last year. Oh and the British tax year runs from April 6 of that year to April 5 of the following year - just to make it more confusing. Eventually I will figure out how not to be double taxed - thank God the UK and Canada have a 'double taxation treaty' for these instances.

After I almost pulled my hair out I decided to go for a therapeutic drive to the Lizard. It's only a 10-15 minute drive and it's beautiful. First I stopped in the Lizard village to browse the shops. I had a few last minute things to pick up for my family to take home. After an hour or more I hopped back in the car and drove 5 more minutes to the Lizard Point. It's a beautiful day but windy. It's suppose to be 24C. As the Lizard is the most southerly point and it's cliffs overlook the ocean it's a bit breezy. Busy place as there are already many tourists about. I took some photos as usual and hung around for a bit enjoying the ocean air.

It was late afternoon by the time I got back from the Lizard and Tesco. After supper, Keith and I lazed on the couch watching TV and the movie 'Good Night, and Good Luck'.

To view the rest of the photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114276&l=e83de&id=732460083

Dentist Cancelled

2008-05-12T11:01:00.003+01:00

I was suppose to go for my dentist appointment at lunch time for my fillings but the office called to say the dentist is out sick today. I've been rescheduled for Friday morning.

It's another beautiful day with highs expected around 24C. Not sure what I'll be up to today as I had planned nothing with my dentist visit. Doesn't seem right to stay in the house on such a nice day so I may head out and venture somewhere.

I didn't end up doing much. Laid out in the sun for a bit, tidied up a few closets and the storage room and had a nap! What a lazy day. Keith wasn't home until 6:30pm as he and Speedy went to the gym. After supper I went down to the park and walked into the Penrose Estate - about a 45 minute walk. It was a beautiful evening.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T10:56:00.000+01:00

Happy Mother's Day!

It was a day of sleeping in after being up until 2:30am and Keith until 4:30am. Unfortunately we wasted a beautiful morning but the sleep was required. I ended up feeling a bit hungover today even though I only had a drink or two. I guess that shows how important sleep is.

What an incredible day! It was around 26C and sunny. It really felt like summer. We didn't do a whole lot. Got some things done around the house, Keith went for a run, BBQ for supper and relaxed in the evening watching TV.

I gabbed on the phone to Mom and my grandmothers wishing them a Happy Mother's Day.

St Austell & Charlestown

2008-05-10T10:44:00.001+01:00

There is a Saturday market starting in Helston today so Keith and I went to check it out. It wasn't very big but I'm guessing that has to do with it being the first one of the year.

Afterwards we picked up Speedy and Rach and headed to St Austell (an hour away). There's a large market there called Cornish Market World. None of us have been there so we wanted to check it out. We learned very quickly it was a market of a lot of junk! Just cheap stuff really and not a market like we'd expected. Rach and I had hoped for Cornish goods and crafts but it was nothing of the sorts. Almost like several stands of Dollar Store goods. I love the Doller Store (the Pound Shop here) but that wasn't what I was looking for.

We still poked around and spend quite awhile here. Afterwards we went to Charlestown which is only 10 minutes away from St Austell. It's a small coastal village and we spent an hour or more walking on the beach, poking around at the sall pools of water finding crabs, shrimp and other species.

Once we had enough of the beach we visited one of the nearby pubs for a drink. On the way home we stopped at our usual watering hole - the Norway Inn. We had supper here then went back to our place. Speedy and Rach came back to ours and Rach and I went out dancing while Keith and Speedy stayed here and played hockey on the Playstation. Rach & I went to the Beehive and had a great time. We had a drink and danced the night away. The boys continued to play hockey until 4am! All in all a great day.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113148&l=28cde&id=732460083

Day Off For Keith

2008-05-09T10:35:00.000+01:00

Keith's squadron has given them today off too which he's quite happy about.

Woke up to a rather dull day. We slept in a bit then got up and putted around trying to figure out what to do on this dreary day. We eventually drove into Penryn and picked up his diving reg that was getting inspected then went to B&Q.

We've been looking at picnic tables for the backyard but most of what we've looked at don't seem very sturdy. Keith did some research online and found the plans to build one. So we went to B&Q to see what kind of fortune it would cost. And a fortune it was! It would cost us almost £100! That's $200! Insanity. So needless to say we left there empty handed. We may just end up buying one of the less sturdy ones which cost about £50.

Dropped into Tesco on the way home and picked up some stuff for supper. Keith is going to do some BBQing.

Speedy and Rach came over and we BBQ'd and sat around and chatted.

Flora Day

2008-05-08T11:46:00.001+01:00

Today is Flora Day in Helston. For a description on Flora Day see my blog from a year ago. As we saw the dances last year we decided to have a lazy morning in bed then we headed into town to meet everyone around 1pm. The guys get the day off as do many of the Helston vendors. Keith and the crew also have tomorrow off. Lucky bunch!

The streets were very busy with people, vendors and food stands. They close the 'high street' (main street in a town where all the shops are) off so its only pedestrian access. One thing that is interesting is you buy a drink in one of the pubs then you go out and enjoy it in the street in the sunshine. We hung out for a few hours and had a drink with our friends that were out. Once the rain decided to come and it was time to make our way inside one of the pubs Keith and I decided to bail out. The pubs were insanely packed! We walked around and checked out everything that was on sale than headed back home. We were soaked by the time we got here.

We watched 'The Recruit' then Speedy and Rach came over for the evening and we ordered takeout and chatted.

Fish Pie

2008-05-07T10:33:00.002+01:00

The weather continues to make it feel like summer. Today it was around 17C and sunny. I was up at 6:30am to drive Keith to work and I somehow cannot bring myself to go back to bed when it's warm at sunny that early in the morning. So I stayed up.

Went grocery shopping in the morning as it's much more enjoyable than in the afternoon when it gets busy. I decided I'd attempt making avery British dish for supper - fish pie. I've had it a few times but haven't been able to find a recipe that seems to suit those I've had. This morning I finally found one. Fish pie tends to include haddock or cod, a smoked fillet of the same, salmon and prawns (shrimp). The fish is all cooked in a creamy sauce then put in a casserole dish and topped with mashed potatoes like shepherd's pie. It was suppose to be non time consuming but it ended up being the opposite. British recipes are all in weight and it's very tough for someone who's used to cups, teaspoons and milliliters. I bought a scale awhile back but it was really cheap and barely works so I had to search online for possible conversations - which isn't a simple thing either. Anyway, I eventually got it all together and it turned out pretty good. Not as good as the pies I've tried but almost.

During the afternoon I went to Newlyn which is about 35 minutes from here to check out the two fish markets I hear advertised on the radio. I hadn't been to Newlyn so I spent an hour or so walking around and sitting on the rocks overlooking the harbour and beach. After getting the fish I needed I headed back home and got to work.

Tomorrow is Flora Day here which is the annual event that shuts down the town. People will be dancing in the streets and vendors will be selling their wares and people will be drinking a lot of beer. The night before Flora Day is a very busy time in Helston as well. The pubs/clubs become packed. A few of our friends were going out so we decided to go meet them for a few drinks. We met them at the Angel Hotel and there ended up being about 15 or more of us. The place was so busy. We stayed for a few drinks then headed out just before midnight. On the way home we stopped at the grill and grabbed what they call a Chicken Doner. It's pieces of chicken on a pita with onions and whatever sauces you want. Keith and I sat on the steps and stuffed ourselves then headed home.

I was able to add two photos -wow!

Ugh...the Dentist

2008-05-06T19:09:00.002+01:00

Drove Keith into work this morning then was off to my 8:30am dentist appointment. Had my new patient check-up which is a look at everything and x-rays. The dentist tells me everything looks good and healthy except I have a small hole developing in one tooth - which I'm not surprised as it's on one of the teeth that my plate clamps onto and I've had problems with the other tooth on that same side that it clamps to. I also have a problem with my very rear molar on the same side. Anyway, fantastic! I booked myself in on the coming Monday to just get it done. Wednesday I'll go back for a cleaning. What an exciting week it'll be. I'm sure there are many people that spend more money than me at the dentist but with my braces, plate, gum graft, some fillings and I can't remember what else my Dad (before I went off to school) and I have spent a small fortune. Thank God I still have dental coverage - I'm covered under the Canadian Forces health and dental plans even out of country so it's all good.

Went to Falmouth this afternoon to browse and just enjoy the sunshine. It was 20-21C here and lovely! After Keith finishes mowing the lawn, we're gonna go down to Loe Pool. He'll probably run and I'll do a walk. I haven't really had an interest in running at all so walking it is.

Summer Day

2008-05-05T13:17:00.002+01:00

Today is the first bank holiday of the Spring/Summer and it is absolutely beautiful out. It really feels like a hot summer day. I'm not sure what the temperature is but it has to be atleast 20C.

I'm trying to get myself in a routine of walking so I headed down to the park this morning for a 45 minute walk or so. I ended up going for an hour and a half! It is so incredible out I just couldn't stop. I walked a trail around Loe Pool. It's a gravel road surrounded and covered with blooming trees and flowers. I take my iPod everytime I go but never listen to it. The sound of the birds is just too serene and relaxing to drown out with music. It's wonderful. Every so often I would stop, close my eyes and just take a deep breath. The air is so fresh, clean and on a day like this you just have to love life more than normal. I went down around 10:30am which was a good time as there weren't many people around. By the time I came back there were quite a few more people on the trail. I didn't go all the way to Loe Pool as I started to get hungry so I came back but will make the full journey sometime soon. After the walk I sat on the bench at the park and watched the people and the birds on the lake while I soaked up the sunshine.

Keith gets home around 4:30pm today so I will be picking him up in a few hours from the train station. I'm going to go now and enjoy some more of this wonderful sunshine.

Happy Birthday Karen!

2008-05-04T13:38:00.005+01:00

Happy Birthday Karen!! Today is Karen's 31st. I shocked Mom yesterday because she thought Karen was turning 30 (as she thought I'd turned 30 in October). I think she almost fell over when I reminded her I'm 31! I almost fall over each time I remember!

I was going to go to the beach for a walk with Rach and her dog Max this morning but woke up to rain so that idea was cancelled. That gives me time to finally finish this update off. Yay! Finally up-to-date. Now my hands are tired from typing for hours.

Today will probably consist of some cleaning and maybe a CSI marathon as I have a bunch of episodes recorded. Keith will be back home tomorrow. Tomorrow is the first bank holiday of summer so the boys don't have to work.

The sun decided to come out shortly after I finished the blog. Yay! I decided it was time to get in gear and I took the recycling to the depot, cleaned the car, took some items to the garage for storage and cleaned the bathrooms. Whew, lots accomplished. Amazing what the sun can do!

Spent the later part of the evening enjoying my CSI NY marathon.

Afternoon in St Ives

2008-05-03T13:32:00.000+01:00

I spent the morning updating the blog - being 2 months behind is tough! My memory and my fingers from typing getting a work out.

Speedy called at lunchtime asking if I wanted some KFC. He and Rach were in Penzance and were just about to pick some up. They dropped by for an hour or so while we ate some really healthy chicken and chatted.

It was too nice to be in the house so I went to St Ives for a few hours. I just love this place. There's just something about it. I'm now on a mission to find a birthday gift for my grandmother's. Nanny Neil turns 89 in the few weeks and Nanny Hardy turns 80 in June. I'm really close to my grandmother's and always get them a little something for their birthday. I didn't have any luck yet but found a few ideas. Maybe next week I'll go back and get something.

I took a different route back home I hadn't done before to see something different. Later in the evening I went for a walk down by the park for 45 minutes. It was an amazing evening. It felt like summer - you know those warm summer evenings when you just want to be outside.

Keith off to London

2008-05-02T13:17:00.000+01:00

Keith, Jono and Biggles have been planning for weeks to go to London for the weekend to watch the Army Navy rugby game. I had been invited but I had no interest in going to London with the boys on a party weekend. I decided I'd rather stay home and let them enjoy themselves without me hanging around.

Dropped Keith off at work for 7:30 this morning as he had a simulator. He and Jono arrived back at 11am and were off to catch their train.

Keith really needs a get away to let off some steam as his course as been quite tough since they returned from Easter leave. It's been very busy with early mornings, some late evenings, home preparation for the early mornings and working a night flying duty shift here and there. I don't write much about what he's up to with his course as you all know Keith, he's a man of few words. Not often does he go into detail about his day. If I ask how his day was his response is always 'the usual'. Wow that's descriptive! Haha. Every so often he comes home really frustrated and pissed off (yeah Keith pissed off) and just lets it all out. But it's things I can't really discuss as this is an open forum for anyone to read. This course has brought frustration to him like I've never seen. He rarely had much to say about Shearwater except that he was bored, but the this place frustrates the hell out of him. His course mates feel the same and they usually have a rant our two when they get together outside work. He'll be really glad to finish but still has several months before the course is over.

Since Keith was away and Speedy has man plans, Rach and I decided we needed some girl time. I picked her up late afternoon and we headed to Truro for some shopping. We shopped a bit and relaxed in a cafe for a bit eating decadent cheesecake. On the way home we stopped into the Norway Inn for supper. Last stop was Asda and then to my place. We bought nail polish (called nail varnish here) and we painted our nails, ate junk and chatted for endless hours. Dave was having a BBQ but we decided we didn't really want to go. I drove her home at 2am and I crashed hard. What a great day!

External Hard Drive/Penzance

2008-05-01T12:48:00.001+01:00

Oy my God it's May! Where did April go?

This morning I finally bought an external hard drive. I really liked Lauren's drive so I spent a few hours yesterday searching for the right price as there is such a range in prices. I was set to buy the 160GB one until I won the 250GB on eBay. It only cost me £2 more then the 160GB! Good deal! Now I can take all my pictures home with me to show the family.

Went to Penzance this afternoon to pick up Keith's train tickets. He's heading to London tomorrow for the weekend. I spent a few hours poking around the shops and finishing off Matthew's birthday gift. It's such a beautiful warm day. I'd like my next job to be in Penzance. I enjoy the drive here (25 minutes), it's right on the ocean and very pretty and Rach works here! I stopped at Morrison's on the way home and grabbed some ribs for supper. I'm gonna put Keith to work on the BBQ.

More to Do

2008-04-30T13:10:00.001+01:00

Spent the morning getting more stuff done. I'm not even able to sleep in as I have so much on my mind. One day last week I was up at 6:30am to drive Keith to work and stayed up! Hopefully next week it'll be more of a leisurely time off!

Picked Keith up at lunch time and went into town to get his haircut. While he got beautified I did some shopping for Matthew's birthday gift and was quite successful. Keith had to go back to work so I dropped him off and came back home.

I spent some more time with the French training and am really enjoying it. It's getting a bit tougher and definitely keeping me on my toes!

We went to Speedy & Rach's in the evening to watch a movie.

iMac Upgrade

2008-04-29T12:47:00.000+01:00

Three weeks until I go home!!!

This morning I went to Trispen, just outside Truro, to Tom's to get our Mac upgraded. He was quick to replace the old RAM with the new and I was on my way. I stopped into Matalan in Truro to do a bit of shopping and went to Pizza Hut for lunch for their buffet.

I was excited to get back to hook the Mac back up. So much faster! Now I can start my French course. I spent a few hours and really enjoyed it. The software has been set up as immersion training so there is no English throughout any of the course. It's very colorful and easy to follow. They cover pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing. Although I know some of the basics I started at level one so i could learn them better and refresh. So far it's been pretty simple, but I have no double by the time I get to level 3 (the highest) I'll be pulling my hair out. I really hope I get something out of it.

Getting Things Done

2008-04-28T12:23:00.000+01:00

Another week ahead to get things done - doctor's apt, placing duty free order, sending mother's day cards, Mac upgrade, sending Ryan Spearin's gift, birthday shopping for Matthew, railcard renewal, and the list goes on.....

I finally booked my travel to London. I had planned to take the overnight sleeper train but it was going to cost £100. I continued searching for another option and discovered it would cost less to stay in London for the night. So I booked a train up in the afternoon of May 19 and a hotel for the night and it's costing more than half the price at £45! I'll also be able to get a better sleep hopefully as the sleeper can be soothing but rough at the same time. I just have to catch the tube to Gatwick Tuesday morning and I'll be on my way home!

Also finished mine and Tanya's (cousin) main travel plans. Bought our train tickets back to here when we arrive in London on June 25th and booked our hotel room in London for early July when we spend a few days before she flies out. I'll still have to do a few other arrangements as we may stay in Bath for a night before we go to London.

Placed our duty free order today. We want to make sure we have it in time for our Canada Day festivities on Saturday, June 28th.
Customs take awhile to clear orders so we have to give plenty of notice.

Hungover

2008-04-26T12:19:00.000+01:00

Oh my God I'm too old to stay up until stupid o'clock in the morning! I finally dragged my ass out of bed around lunch time. James was long gone and Biggles didn't move until an hour or so later. Keith was full of ambition for some reason and was up earlier, did a little cleaning then started mowing the lawn. Wish I felt that good!

For the evening we went to Speedy and Rach and ordered pizza with them and Dave.

Speedy's Pirate Party

2008-04-25T12:07:00.000+01:00

Rach took the afternoon off work so she didn't have to rush home from work to the party. She picked me up on her way back from work and we went into Asda to buy some accessories for our costumes and a cake for Speedy. We had planned to go to a pub for lunch but ended up spending too much time at Asda shopping. Instead we grabbed sandwiches and ate in the car.

She dropped me off at home so she could go get ready. I picked Keith up at work and before long Dave was here to get him. The boys were getting ready at Rach & Speedy's and she was coming back here to get ready with me. She arrived back at 5pm and we spent an hour and a half getting dolled up. James (from my work) showed up and the poor guy got stuck getting ready with the girls. The three of us piled Rach's car with the rest of the balloons and headed to the Godolphin.

People tapered in all night and we had quite a turn out. As I wasn't hosting this time around I didn't shy away from drinks and having fun. We had a great time. Afterwards a bunch of us headed into town to dance the rest of the night away. Biggles and James were crashing at ours so we all headed back in a cab - as my feet hurt so much from my boots I couldn't walk any further! Back at our place we whipped up some traditional bacon sandwiches and eventually crashed around 5am! What a great night.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109283&l=fe283&id=732460083

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109290&l=35e73&id=732460083

Trevarno Garden Estate

2008-04-24T11:55:00.000+01:00

As it's a beautiful day I decided to take some time to enjoy it. I've been meaning to visit Trevarno since we moved here and finally made time today. What a beautiful place. I spent a few hours in the afternoon and really enjoyed it. They have the gardens and they also have an estate walk. I decided to do the estate walk as well which is about 45 minutes. It was a bit odd as it takes you through the forest and even farmers fields! At one point I felt I was the only person in the world. I was in the middle of a field with nothing but farm fields for miles and a few cows beside me. It was strange really. But relaxing. I took a ton of pictures of course and you can see them by pasting the link in your browser:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108870&l=7a0de&id=732460083

It has also been a week of trying new recipes. On Monday I made cabbage rolls and they were so good. Today I made a spicy that shrimp and noodle soup which was also really good. Loving my new Canadian Living cookbook - Keith is too!

After supper Rach and Speedy came over and we blew up a bunch of balloons for Speedy's birthday party tomorrow. Then we all went to the Godolphin Club where they're having the party. Rach and I did some decorating while the boys played with the sound system equipment to make sure they knew how to use it for tomorrow.

After we finished we headed back to our place for a few hours to choose a bunch of music. We put together a crazy mix of metal (Speedy's favorite), 80's, 90's and a bit of everything else. My job tomorrow will be to burn the disks.

Lady of Leisure

2008-04-23T11:41:00.001+01:00

I am now officially what the English call 'a lady of leisure'. Which is a really nice way to put 'unemployed'! However the week has been less than leisurely. I started my to do list and it may take me awhile to finish it! Mostly admin stuff to do including booking my travel to London for my trip home, travel back with my cousin on my return, our trip to London on her return home, buying luggage and an external hard drive, and so many other things. It sounds easy enough but I take forever to book accommodation and make travel plans. I have to carefully plan it all out and research the places to stay and find the best deal. So a quick task for someone is a days work for me!

I did buy some luggage on Tuesday at Tesco. I finally found a large piece that was half decently priced and good quality (I hope!). I had been looking for awhile but as I mentioned previously, there is little choice in Cornwall so it can be tough finding something you need. I do a lot of online shopping now!

We've determined our Mac needs a memory upgrade so I contacted the guy I dealt with at my work and he gave me the info I need on what to buy and is going to install the RAM for me next week for free! One of the times online shopping comes in handy.

The Canadian Detachment in London has offered the CF spouses a year of free online language training. I immediately signed up! It's the Rosetta Stone language center which is quite well known. My aim is to learn some French. I've noticed that the year subscription allows you to learn a variety of languages, depending on how long it takes you to learn one language you can move onto another and another until the year is up. So after French maybe Spanish? German? Swahili!

Today I went into Trago and bought 2 canvases, paint and some paint brushes as I'm going to paint some kind of bizarre creation to hang in our livingroom. I never finished the livingroom the way I wanted to and it's a bit drab and needs some colour. I figure 'll add some red and spruce it up. It ended up being an expensive trip as I got a damn parking ticket! The equivalent of $60! Ouch!

Shalom House

2008-04-20T11:16:00.000+01:00

A month from today and I'll be home!! I can't wait!

We woke up feeling much more lively today. Speedy came over and helped Keith take all the bottles and grass trimmings to the recycling place and Rach and I hung out for a bit. They came back after supper for a few hours as the boys had course work to do together.

Yesterday Mom moved back home after a few months of being away. Many of you don't know this but Mom has spent since early February at a convent in Sydney Mines for women with addictions. The program is run by sisters and is a live in for women to learn about their addiction and how to live and cope with it. In January Mom had a bit of a rough time and went back to drinking. Her counsellor pulled some strings and got her into Shalom House (the convent) for a few months. We, including Mom, were very relieved and excited for her to go. Within a few days she was called that a space was available and she was off. She really enjoyed her time there and finished her program Friday. We're all so very proud of her.

Some of you may be surprised not to know this but it's something I don't often speak of. Not because I'm embarrassed (because I'm very proud of Mom) but because of that awkwardness of telling someone and them not knowing what to say. Also because I'm a big sook for Mom and it sometimes makes me cry -so if I don't speak of it then I don't have to worry about the waterworks! She is hoping to do another program in the fall for maybe a year so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it works out for her.

What a Mess!

2008-04-19T11:10:00.001+01:00

I can't say I woke up feeling fantastic this morning but not as bad as expected. What a lovely mess when we got up. Thankfully Bungy and Cauffers were up and they had cleared all the bottles off the dining room table and put all the dirty glasses in the kitchen. It took Keith and I about 2 hours or so to clean up. The amount of glasses was such a pain - without a dishwasher! And I love how our feet stuck to our floor. Gross!

Speedy, Rach, Dave, Keith & I decided we needed a greasy breakfast so we went to a little cafe in Helston. It wasn't great, but kind of served the purpose. Keith and I came home and enjoyed a very lazy day watching TV.

Cocktail Party!

2008-04-18T10:56:00.000+01:00

As we have so much duty free alcohol we decided to have a cocktail party tonight. Also to celebrate me finishing work and Speedy's birthday that was on Monday past.

I had to stick around the house this morning as MOD was coming in for the annual gas inspection. Once the inspection was complete I headed to the big Tesco in Pool. I had a bunch of things to pick up for the party tonight. When I got back home I started a chicken pot pie I decided to make for supper. Around 3pm I was so tried (don't know why) I laid down for an hour's nap. Keith arrived home just after 4pm and informed me that people were coming over around 5-5:30pm! Aaaahhh! They weren't suppose to come over until 7pm. I had to stop with the pie as there would be no time to finish it or enjoy it. I was going to hang Keith at this point. I jumped in the shower and ran around like a nut trying to get everything done. People already started arriving when I was getting ready.

We ended up having a really good night with a great turn out. Almost 40 people showed up! That's a lot of people in our not so huge house. But it was all good. I got to meet some new people and watch everyone get looped. I stayed somewhat sober being the hostess. The beginning of the night was tame as they usually are, then later on when all the good spirits were gone (gin, run, vodka) out came the crazy concoctions. Jono had a great time with the blender and was the highlight of the party. I also brought out the chocolate fountain and the girls and I enjoyed that. Sid and Katie had brought their Twister game with them so that was put to good use. Always dangerous to play Twister at a party.

I think the evening finished around 3-4am and a bunch crashed with us. We ended up with about only 6 bottles of alcohol left. Mission accomplished!

Two albums of the night:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107578&l=06374&id=732460083

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107580&l=652a2&id=732460083

My Last Week of Work!

2008-04-17T10:46:00.001+01:00

Today would have been my brother Jamie's 30th birthday. A bit of a sappy morning for me as I drove to work thinking about him.

Wow, my last week of work. It ended up being a busy week getting everything cleared up that had to be done. But I'm happy to be busy as it made it go by quickly. Thursday was my last day and the guys spoiled me rotten. They gave me an amazing bouquet of flowers, a bottle of pink champagne and an iPod Shuffle! Then afterwards they took my out for a drink. It was very nice! They had my iPod inscribed 'we'll miss you and your cakes'. It was really cute. I was always taking them in some kind of sweet and in England they kinda group sweets together as 'cakes' or 'pudding' when it's dessert. It was sad to say goodbye but I'm also very excited to have some time off to get all my 'to dos' done which seems like an exhausting list at the moment.

Yesterday I picked up a trimmer for Keith at Trago. He finally found one he liked so I picked it up on my lunch break. Thank God as our yard desperately needs some TLC.

As I wasn't interested in cooking by the time I got home we ordered pizza for supper and watched a movie.

St Mawgan Shopping

2008-04-12T10:38:00.000+01:00

This morning Keith & I headed to St Mawgan. We visited Mole Valley in hopes of finding a trimmer but with no luck. We spent the next hour or so visiting the surrounding outlet stores, one being a surf shop where Keith finally found a good deal on a wetsuit and bought it. I bought gloves for my suit so I'm getting closer to having all the kit.

Since we were here we went to the RAF base to the American Exchange store (NEX) to buy some stuff. It turned out to be quite a shopping day - not that Keith would want to admit it. On the way back we stopped at the Norway Inn for a late afternoon drink and munchies.

In the evening Rach and Speedy dropped by to pick us up and we went into town to the Five Stars pub/bar to meet up with everyone. There were quite a few of the crew out. Rach and I ended up leaving the boys and went to the Beehive to dance. Eventually the boys met us with us and it was home time. We had a great night as Rach and I usually do.

MOT & Oil Change

2008-04-11T10:18:00.000+01:00

Keith and I were both back to work this week. I can't believe I finish work next week.

Dropped the car off at the garage this morning to have it's MOT (like our MVI) and oil change done. Thankfully there were no problems. Whew!

Keith had the day off too so we spent it getting stuff done at home - insurance renewals, car road tax, tax claims, etc.

Truro Shopping

2008-04-05T10:22:00.002+01:00

It was a nice day so we headed into to Truro to the market and to check out the fancy dress shop. Speedy's birthday party is in a few weeks and it's a pirate theme so we have to find costumes. We poked around the market, then checked out a pine furniture outlet we've been eying. Wow, the furniture is amazing. Such a huge selection, Keith and I could easily go broke in there. Hopefully someday we'll come back to buy a nice dining room table and chairs set.

On the way home it was B&Q as Keith is trying to find a grass trimmer for the yard. There seems to be little choice in the surrounding area but that's typical for everything in Cornwall really. We'll head to Mole Valley next weekend to see what we can find.

I spent the evening making some appetizers from my new cookbook. Quiet evening of movie watching and enjoying the apps.

Jamie's Moving to England!

2008-04-04T10:01:00.000+01:00

Jamie's UK visa got approved today!!! Oh my God! Can't believe it's actually going to happen. She'll be moving to Cornwall in May. It'll be great to have a girlfriend so close. Congrats Jamie!

Ugh taxes. Taxes this year are a bit painful for us. With our out of Canada posting and me working in two countries it's not going to be the straight forward file I'm used to. Done some research today trying to find out where to start. I'm going to put it off now until I'm finished work and have more time to look into - mostly because I really don't want to think about it!

Back Home

2008-04-03T12:39:00.000+01:00

It's always strange to me when coming home is in another country. Never thought I'd call England home!

We had a fantastic sleep. Premier Inns do guarantee a good night's sleep and that we had. Got on the road just before lunch. Drove for awhile then stopped for lunch and to get petrol. I slept most of the way still bagged from the travel. It was really nice to be home. We even arrived to 17C weather! Good deal!

The Baths

2008-04-02T12:00:00.000+01:00

Another nice day! We definitely got lucky. We headed straight for the Pest side this morning on a mission to finish off our gift shopping and return to the Buda side to relax at the bath for the afternoon.

We did a lot more walking and stopped at a cafe for breakfast. We finally found the large indoor market we had looked for yesterday. This place is massive. There are two floors. The bottom floor is chalk full of food vendors with vegetables, fruits, desserts, meats and more paprika than you can shake a stick at. Really wish we had such a thing at our finger tips.

The second floor is the touristy area where the vendors are selling gifts and Hungarian wares. I had read before our trip to be carefully in this place and that prices range from one vendor to the next. We spent sometime here and I bought a few items. We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back to Buda.

There are several baths in Budapest and we were lucky one of the popular ones was close to our hostel. There was one other I would have preferred to visit, but wasn't as convenient. We went to the Gellert Bath. It was quite confusing at first (as I'd be warned in the many articles I read before hand) trying to determine what we needed to pay for and if we wanted any treatments. I was going to have a foot massage but it ended up being too confusing. We paid for just the afternoon in the baths (pool, thermal baths, etc). We paid for a tiny little cabin which was a changing room basically where we could change and leave our belongings. We first tried out the pool that was beautiful. It was surrounded by tall stone pillars/columns and at every corner and around the sides stood stood lions that pumped water into the pool. The ceiling was glass allowing the sun to shine down on you. Wow what a place! The pool wasn't as warm as I would like so I didn't stay long.

We then checked out the thermal baths and spent quite awhile here. There were two half moon shaped pools - one bath/pool was 36C and the other was 38C. So one just below body temperature and the other just above. As Rach would put it, they were 'lush'. As soon as you get it you can feel every muscle in your body relax and all tension disappears. Good for our feet we have spent so much time on! The 38C was my favorite. Next was the Turkish steam room. My God it was hot! You can feel the moisture dripping from your body and it's so hot it's hard to breathe. Quite the experience! In the same area is a very small pool maybe the size of a bath tub that is of freezing cold water. Apparently a Hungarian tradition is to dip in the cold pool after the hot. No way in hell was I trying out the tradition!

We spent the last hour soaking in another pool - not sure of the temperature but it was a bit cooler than 36C. We then showered up and dressed and were off to the Brasserie next door for supper. We had a really good meal - still loving the Hungarian food - and headed back to our hotel. The meal cost us HUF 9603.00! Haha - that's only about $60.

The Hungarian Forint (HUF) makes you feel rich when you're carrying the money as one of the photos Keith took of me will show - I'm holding a 10,000 HUF bill but it's only worth about $62. The other side of the coin, it feels like you're spending a fortune when you buy something!

Back at the hostel we finished packing up and the shuttle was there to pick us up. We headed back to the airport. Goodbye Budapest! We discussed the trip on our way to the airport and decided we had a really good trip but probably wouldn't rush back anytime soon. It was short but it was the perfect amount of time. I really enjoyed visiting another country and learning about another culture. There's really something amazing about being in a city/country where you can't understand the signs and the many discussions around you. It was also amazing to see the communist side of the city. I don't know anything about communism but you could see and feel the coldness it left on some parts of the city. What a great experience to visit.

We sat in the airport and had a few drinks and chatted away. We then waited forever in a line up to check in, I got caught with a paid of fold away pliers in my carry on (Haha - had no idea these were tucked away deep in one of the pockets - they'd been there for years and it hadn't been picked up in the Bristol airport!) and then our flight was delayed about an hour and a half. That was painful!

We eventually arrived back in England around 1am, hopped on our airport shuttle to our car and drove to our hotel. We crashed so card we didn't move until 10am the next morning.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103717&l=694d3&id=732460083

Hello Budapest!!

2008-04-01T10:45:00.000+01:00

A year ago today we left Canada! I can still remember this day last year like it was yesterday. have dinner at the Shoe Shop, saying goodbye to my brothers and Julia and George taking us to the airport. Then saying goodbye to Halifax. A month and a half and I'll be back for a visit!

Woke up to a nice day - thank God! I forgot to mention were stayed on the Buda side which is the older part of the city whereas Pest is the administrative side and is more modern. We learned immediately when we went out in the sunshine that the Buda side has a lot of graffiti - not just the area we are staying in. Which also doesn't look dodgy at all in daylight when you notice the surrounding areas look the same.

Keith and I had no idea where to look for food so we just wandered and eventually found a like shop. I had a tea biscuit that was more baking soda/salt than anything else. I'm not even sure what Keith had. It was something on a bun. Haha. I can't even explain it really. But it was good. And we couldn't ask because the lady didn't understand us!

Once our bellies were full we decided to follow the map and go to Castle Hill. Castle Hill is home to the old Parliament, the Castle and several landmarks/tourist attractions. This area sits above the rest of the city and overlooks the Danube, Buda and Pest. It's beautiful! It is quickly visible that this district is home to some of the richer things in Budapest as it's so clean, no graffiti and the buildings are beautiful. We spent several hours here walking around, shopping and just checking things out. We also popped into a cafe for lunch where we enjoyed our first bowl of goulash soup. So good!

We visited Fisherman's Bastion which you can see in our pictures (link at the bottom). It's an open stone structure that overlooks the Danube and Pest. The views from here are incredible. We didn't go inside the Castle but we walked around the grounds. It was a bit disappointing as I've become accustom to English castles (old and beautiful) but the Buda one was let's just say - I didn't even realize it was a castle! I had to keep looking on the map as I thought I was missing it. It's not a fancy building but has beautiful, manicured grounds. We visited the vendors who were set up around Castle Hill and bought some cinnamon funnel cake that was also really good.

Mid afternoon we decided we saw everything we wanted to on Castle Hill and we headed towards Pest. We walked across the famous chain bridge (which is lit up at night and is very nice). Once on the Pest side we walked to the new parliament building. It was a bit of a walk but well worth it. This building is magnificent! Topped with spires with very medieval architecture it takes your breath away. I was hoping to do a tour but it was closed for tours today. Dammit! And there's no time tomorrow. So I just took a ton of pictures of the outside. We then strolled the streets of Pest and eventually got thirsty so we stopped at a pub for a drink on the outside patio.

We decided to do an evening dinner cruise on the Danube as a romantic way to celebrate our past anniversary. The trip was somewhat of an anniversary gift to ourselves, so the dinner cruise topped it off nicely. They started the cruise off with a glass of champagne for everyone and there was a large buffet with a great spread of Hungarian appetizers, mains and desserts. The food was fantastic. I've decided I really enjoy Hungarian food. There is no shortage of paprika either. We cruised the Danube past the parliament building and under the chain bridge (which was lit up as it was now dark) and past many other sites. They also had live music playing. We really enjoyed it.

After the cruise we walked around a bit - to walk off all the food - then we walked back to our hostel. Lots and lots of walking!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103710&l=7159f&id=732460083

Budapest, Hungary!

2008-03-31T10:25:00.000+01:00

We hit the road around lunch time to drive to Bristol to catch our flight. Bristol is a three hour drive and this gave us plenty of time to stop at a pub for food and check in early enough for our flight that left at 6pm.

We had purchased parking online (as this is the thing to do here and it's cheaper that way) so we drove to the parking area and they shuttled us to the airport (15 min drive). This was very convenient as we didn't have to deal with airport traffic.

Once checked in and through security I realized I left my coat and phone at the security desk - I'm bound to lose this jacket and phone at this rate! By the time I made it back to get my things and returned to Keith, he realized his boarding card was missing! Oh dear, what a start we're having to our vacation. We never did find his card but it wasn't a problem once we boarded. Bristol airport has an interesting setup. When you go through the boarding line up you're put on a bus and driven to the airplane! There isn't enough space at the airport itself, so the planes are at a different location on the property. Interesting! We flew with Ryanair which is the low cost airline here. That being said, it's a charter flight which is very cozy with limited leg room and no free munchies. Not a big deal, it's only a 2 hour flight and a return ticket for the 2 of us was $160. I wasn't complaining. I met a wonderful Welsh lady on the plane and she gave me lots of pointers for our visit to Budapest.

We arrived in Budapest at 9:30pm. From here we caught the airport shuttle and they took us directly to our hostel. I don't normally stay in hostels as they scare me a little but this was a double room with our own bathroom so it was perfect and of course cheap! I tried to make this trip as cheap as possible as we're both traveling home to Canada this year and that's not cheap. Once we were here we didn't worry about cost it was just the main items we wanted to save money on (flights, parking, shuttle and accommodation).

I was so excited to be in a new country I was checking out all the sights on our drive. We arrived at our hostel and I was scared! Oh my God I think we're in the hood! We got out of the shuttle and I said to Keith holy shit where the hell are we? I had booked this hostel also because it had hundreds of rave reviews - now I'm thinking those people were drunk!

There was no sign, barely any lighting and graffiti all over the building. As we approached the door a dark figure came out of the small park behind us finishing his cigarette. He asked if I was Amanda and helped us in to the hostel. He was one of the managers and once we were inside it was a completely different place. Thank God! It turned out to be a very cozy home, and our room was great. Nothing fancy, but clean and comfortable - what more could you ask for? And the manager was wonderful. Very friendly and welcoming. He spoke decent English but it was a bit broken with his Hungarian accent.

Not ready for sleep yet and anxious to see what's around us, Keith and I took an hour walk along the Danube River which was on the backside of the hostel. It ended up being a great location as well. I would stay again! It was a beautiful evening and Budapest looks amazing at night all lit up with the city lights. We crashed hard when we got back after our travels and fresh air.

Hiking the Helford River

2008-03-30T10:15:00.001+01:00

What an amazing day! The weather the past few days has been less than spectacular so we've kinda been stuck not doing anything outdoorsy.

Since the sun is finally shining we decided to go for a hike around the Helford River which is a 20 minute drive from here. The hike turned out to be part of the South West Coast path which is a trail that covers just over a 1,000km of the South West peninsula coastline. We've done bits and pieces of the trail since we've arrived and Keith's goal is to do a huge chunk of it before we leave. We were planning to hike a few days of it during leave but the weather hasn't cooperated. We could only hike for about 2 hours or so as it was late afternoon and we were having a few people over for a BBQ.

Unfortunately the heavens decided to open just before everyone arrived and Keith was left to BBQ in the rain. It eventually cleared up but such typical English weather! Holly, Andy, Bungy and Mitch came over and we enjoyed lots of food and spent the evening watching TV, having a few drinks and chatting.

Everyone left just before midnight and I was on a mission to get packed. We leave tomorrow for Budapest!!

Link to pictures (not sure why it doesn't show these as a hyperlink - just copy and paste into your browser):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=105960&l=dd09d&id=732460083

Dinner & Pub

2008-03-29T10:07:00.000Z

Welcome to the world Ryan George Spearin! Kyle and Paulette had a beautiful baby boy today! Congratulations! Can't wait to meet him.

I can't really remember what we did today! In the evening we went for dinner at Giuseppe's - an Italian restaurant here in Helston - and had a nice meal. Afterwards we met up with the crew at 'The Angel' pub/club for drinks. We didn't stick around for long as they were going dancing and Keith wanted nothing to do with it. Mr Dancing queen he is not. So we came home and watched a movie.

Back to Penryn

2008-03-28T09:56:00.000Z

A year today since I've seen my family and friends at home (Ingonish).

As we didn't finish our errands yesterday we headed back into Penryn. We dropped by the dive shop as Keith's regulator has to be inspected. Then we went to a shop called the Boathouse where I finally found a new jacket! Yay! It's taken me 2 months to find a replacement for my Jacques Whitford jacket that was stolen. I bought a black Columbia Titanium which is very similar and I love it. And I didn't have to pay too much of a fortune for it.

Spent the rest of the day getting things done and watched movies in the evening.

Keith Home

2008-03-27T09:51:00.000Z

I enjoyed a few days to myself while Keith enjoyed spending time with his bro and family. I started my vacation today and am off until April 7. Yeehaw!

Keith caught a train this morning from Exeter so I picked him up in Truro early afternoon. On the drive back we ran some errands in Penryn then came home as Keith was anxious to be home.

Easter Monday - Back Home

2008-03-24T09:47:00.000Z

Keith has decided to stick around for a few days and go into work with dale this morning to see what he does. I have to work the next two days so I'm heading back home.

Dale went to work early this morning and I dropped Keith off at lunch time. I decided to spend a few hours in Exeter shopping and using our Debenham's gift card Chris and Vern gave us for Xmas. Once shopped out and fed I hit the road for home. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T09:25:00.000Z

I can't believe this is our second Easter here! Wow!

Lauren and Dale are hosting Easter dinner this evening so Lauren and I were kept busy for the day preparing the veggies, fixings and appetizers. Keith and Dale are in charge of the turkey and making lemon meringue pie for dessert.

Lauren's parents and Sam arrived around supper time and we enjoyed lots of appetizers and drinks. After some relaxation and chatting we gathered for dinner. It was excellent.

Once dinner was finished, Dale played Easter bunny and hid the eggs. Olivia and Jack had a great time finding them. I think Olivia was amazed and a bit confused by it all at first. It was so much fun to watch her giggle as she found the eggs and even funnier to watch Jack crawl around eying the ones laying close to the floor. Kids definitely make the holidays.

Throughout the day I talked to all my family at home which tops off my holiday!

Link to our pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100731&l=f3010&id=732460083

Good Friday - To Chulmleigh

2008-03-21T09:20:00.001Z

As it's Good Friday and the start of Easter weekend, we're heading to Dale & Lauren's to spend the holiday with family. I think this is the first time we've been at their place since Xmas and the wedding.

It was so nice to see everyone especially Olivia and Jack. They continue to amaze me. Olivia is such a smart little girl and Jack is now crawling everywhere at the speed of light - he loves having someone chase him. Who needs to have kids when you have a great niece and nephew?

Easter Leave Starts

2008-03-20T09:16:00.000Z

Keith's Easter leave started today. He's now off until April 6. He's quite happy to have a break from work as the course is driving him and the other guys insane. The RN works a lot different from the Canadian Air Force and they seem to have a very backwards approach to training and instruction. It seems to be quite painful for the guys on course.

Went to Rach & Speedy's for pizza and to watch a flick as the boys needed a few beer and to get work out of their system.

Poker Night

2008-03-18T14:40:00.001Z

For some reason the guys have a slack day tomorrow so they decided to have Poker Night. Speedy and Rach are hosting so I'm going over to entertain Rach and harass the boys with her. Haha.

It was a good turn out. Rach had made lots of munchies and her and I sat in the livingroom eating and watching a flick. We actually put on Brokeback Mountain as we thought it would be quite funny to distress the boys with such a movie. They have an open plan kitchen/livingroom so they could see and hear it all. They weren't very amused as we figured. But we were! I didn't stay late as I'm trying to get lots of sleep to get rid of this damn cold before going away in a week or so.

Keith and Jono (Aussie) eventually made it back to our place and Jono crashed here as they both had a few drinks.

St Paddy's Day & News at Work

2008-03-17T14:33:00.001Z

Happy St Paddy's Day!

So I arrived at work today to find out some interesting news. My boss called me into the meeting room to tell me they were giving me a month's notice to finish work as they just aren't busy enough to keep me on until my original contract end date - May 8. Wow, it came as quite a surprise. They felt really bad and ensured me it was nothing to do with me. They had been hoping that things would pick up and they'd be able to create a position for me. I don't mind leaving and finding other work as it gives me a variety of experiences while I'm here.

I knew work was slowing down as several of our large projects were coming to an end all at the same time and I could feel things starting to slow drastically. However, I was still a a bit shocked. Not a big ordeal as it's exactly 3 weeks earlier than the original date, so it wasn't going to affect me much. Now I have a full month off before I go home!

I wish I had of known this earlier as I had planned my trip home around work, so here I am off work weeks early and I can't change my flight to go home earlier. Oh well. I have a list of to dos that will keep me busy enough.

Dinner & Hockey!

2008-03-15T14:28:00.000Z

Speedy has been recording some hockey for us as he has satellite. Keith and I are too cheap to spend money on one. Haha. Means we'd probably sit in front of it more and we don't want that so we're determined not to spend money on channels - we get 30-40 as it is, just not the hockey which we both miss.

Speedy, Rach, Keith & I went into Falmouth to Pizza Express for dinner. We finally found some good pizza! This is a task in this county - maybe even country. Had a really nice dinner then we went back to Speedy and Rach's and watched the hockey game. I can't even remember who was playing except for Buffalo and another American team I wasn't really interested in. But I was happy just to watch a game!

Can't Remember!

2008-03-14T11:49:00.000Z

To be honest I have no idea what we did this week and barely remember what we did over the weekend. It's so hard to remember when I'm behind a month and a half on updating!

Wednesday I woke up with a cold! I cannot believe how many colds I have gotten since I arrived in the UK. Not sure when my body is going to get used to life here, but I hope soon!

My work week was a bit busy with our English Heritage project coming to a close. Friday I did some catch up on admin stuff at home - paying road tax and our TV license (what a crazy set up). That night Keith met up with some of the guys in Helston to celebrate St Paddy's Day. I decided to stay home and nurse my cold so I just relaxed at home.

Tregragon Farm Day 2

2008-03-09T11:43:00.001Z

Happy Birthday Shannon!

It was a bit of an odd day for weather. One moment it was sunny and the next raining. After breakfast Dale, Lauren, the kiddies, Keith & I decided to go for a walk to the beach as the farm has a beautiful backdrop of the ocean. As we approached the cliff edge we noticed a thick cloud of rain just ahead of us heading our way. We quickly took off back to the farm.

Keith, Dale, Olivia and I went to the hay barn and played in the hay stacks for awhile. Well, they played and I took pictures of the calves on the other side of the barn. They're so cute! They're curious but such scaredy cats at the same time.

Hester prepared a wonderful Sunday roast dinner for us with all the fixings and dessert. Once we were all stuffed and had our belongings together it was time to hit the road as it was mid afternoon.

We arrived home at supper time and after that dinner there was no need to cook. Yay! We had a great weekend.

Tregragon Farm

2008-03-08T11:11:00.001Z

Keith & I headed out around 10:30am and arrived at lunch time just a few minutes before Dale & Lauren - good timing. We spent the afternoon relaxing enjoying Hester and watching her cook (she wouldn't let us help). After lunch we bundled up in our finest attire and rubber boots and went to visit the cows. Mike & Andrew gave us the tour. We really enjoyed it. Before we knew it, it was milking time. Keith, Dale, Olivia and I headed to the milking parlour to find Andrew. He had already started the process and Keith, Dale and I were keen to jump right in.

Before long the 3 of us were into all of it - preparing the cows for the milking machine, putting on the machine and applying the moisturizer to them when finished. We stuck around for awhile and had fun. By the time we were finished my coat looked like I had wiped a cow's behind! It wasn't very pretty and it didn't smell any better. Haha. They are so full of mud and everything else that's it's difficult to stay clean. I didn't care, I had fun.

We spent the evening enjoying a fantastic supper Hester prepared, drinking wine and chatting. We all hit the hay early after our day of fresh air.

I was able to get one photo uploaded:

To see all the photos follow the links to my Facebook albums:

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96801&l=7d423&id=732460083

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96806&l=7d120&id=732460083

Ah Friday

2008-03-07T10:45:00.003Z

Woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. What a great sleep. I feel refreshed. Spent the morning catching up on some 'to-dos'. Keith figures he's at work for a full day which is odd for Friday. I don't really have any plans for the day. It's a nice sunny day so I should be out enjoying it, even though it is a bit cool.

Tomorrow we are off to Delabole, Cornwall to visit Lauren's cousins (I think that's the relation), Hester, Mike and their son Andrew. We're meeting Dale, Lauren and the kiddies there. Hester and Mike own a dairy farm and we've been dying to visit. We'll be staying tomorrow night and getting a taste of farm life. My relatives back home used to own a dairy farm around Pictou and Nan and Gamp took me there often as a kid. I loved it. We're all excited to be around the animals and spend time with Lauren's family. It should be a great 2 days.

Late at Work

2008-03-06T10:39:00.001Z

This week at work hasn't been bad at all, but a typical Thursday is everything hits the fan at 4pm and I'm there late. It's like they don't realize until then that I'm not in tomorrow. This week we started working on an identity branding tender and it's been quite a bit of work, as tenders normally are. Some last minutes things came up end of day today so I ended up being at work until 7pm. How fantastic! When I got home Keith had supper ready which was wonderful. I ended up crawling in bed at 9:30pm because I was bagged. I think it's because I didn't get enough sleep last weekend so I'm a bit tired this week. at least I'm hoping that's all it is. One of the guys at work has been out with the flu for 2 days. I better not be getting sick! Time to pop some vitamin C and echinasea. Ah, sleep.....

Climbing for Keith

2008-03-05T10:35:00.000Z

Keith headed off at 6am this morning to drive to South Molton, Devon to indoor climb for the day. It was arranged by the Royal Navy and a few of the guys he's on course with decided to go. From what I gathered, they had a good day. I wonder how us civilian folk can arrange such things with our work?

Online Surfing/Shopping

2008-03-04T20:46:00.003Z

Happy Birthday Dale & Kyle!

Keith is on duty tonight so he's working until 9:30pm or so. I'm playing around on the computer trying to figure out how to back-up this iMac - I'm so confused with Macs. They're great because they're simple, but in some sense too simple! Also doing a bit of online shopping - browsing really. Realized the luggage I have won't hold what I'll be taking home for a month so checking out eBay for a good deal on a very large suitcase. Also looking into an external hard drive to store all my pictures on to take home to show my family. This is an expensive trip home! But well worth it. Can't wait to see everyone. I had a little bit of homesickness the past 2 weeks. I don't know if you'd really call it homesick, but definitely missing my family. It's time to see my parents, my brothers, and my grandparents.

While adding this post I also added a few more 'British Oddities' and 'Things we can't get here' to my lists on the right hand side. It's funny trying to think of some of these things and I'm now forgetting what's normal and what's backwards British. Haha. Our Aussie friend Jono was saying on the weekend he believes the Brits try to do everything the longest or most difficult way possible - just because. I would say this probably goes for government. Sorry Lauren, I don't think you're backwards! :-)

Sleet/Hail

2008-03-03T21:23:00.003Z

I think I opened my mouth too early a few blogs back when I said we didn't see a flake of snow yet. Twice today the sky got black, the heaven's opened and sleet/hail just poured down. It was bizarre. There was even a little left behind on the ground but melted within a few minutes. The weather is saying England could get up to 10cm of snow tonight! I didn't catch what part of England but hopefully not the South West! Maybe it'll favor London along with the little Earthquake last week!

Absolutely Nothing

2008-03-02T21:19:00.000Z

It was a day for sleeping. Not getting to bed until stupid o'clock in the morning, I needed my sleep. I got up for an hour or so in the morning then had a 2 hour nap over lunch. How nice! I never nap.

I spent the afternoon being lazy but unfortunately I'm a woman and with that comes the need to get stuff done. So even though I plan to do nothing, I usually am unable to do that because there's always something that needs to be done - laundry, supper, etc. I cooked another chicken for supper and we had a great roast dinner. I even made apple crisp for dessert. Eventually I relaxed on the couch and did my favorite Sunday thing - watch CSI - 2 episodes!

Course Social

2008-03-01T16:08:00.001Z

It's March! Yeehaw! We've been here 11 months today! I'm always so happy when January and February are over. Although I was very happy to not see a flake of snow this winter. Maybe next year I'll miss the cold and snow...not likely! It's still 8-12 degrees here during the day which suits me just fine. They did report it was going to be very cold a few nights with the temperature dipping down to -6C. Haha. I thought it was quite funny they considered that very cold. These people would die in Canada.

So tired and lazy this morning we ended up sleeping in until 10:30am. Not hard to tell we don't have kids! After running some errands and grocery shopping Jono dropped into meet Keith as they have their course social today. After a 1/2 hour visit the boys walked into town to meet the rest of the crew. As it's only 3pm I have no interest to go with them now and be out for the night. I've decided to stay home until supper time or early evening then I may walk in and meet them. We'll see.

Just as I was hanging up with Mom to go get ready to go out, Rach called and said she was on her way home from work (early) and she was up for going out too. Yay! She picked me up at 8:30pm and we went out and met up with the boys. There were only 10 of them out and a few snuck off early, but it turned out to be an alright night. We went to the Blue Anchor first, then off to one of the Crewman instructor's parties then ended at Big T's. I left the guys an hour before they headed home because I had enough. So I came home and made Kraft Dinner! Any of my girlfriends know this is my drinking go-to food. Keith and Jono arrived back at about 3:30am and Jono crashed here. Not a bad night.

Pictures from the evening:
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95062&l=f4fd7&id=732460083

Anniversary Dinner

2008-02-29T15:55:00.001Z

Happy Birthday Dad!! Dad actually gets to celebrate a proper birthday this year and is doing it on the slopes of Marble Mountain, NL. Sweet deal.

This morning I treated myself to a massage. It's been a year since I had one and when I worked at Jacques I was going every 2 months or so as it was part of our benefits package. We also have the option with Keith's benefits but it requires a referral and it's damn near impossible to get a GP to give you a referral for MT in this country. So anyway, I went as my back and neck always need a little TLC from sitting at a desk for several hours a day. I decided to go to the spa in town where I had my manicure even though I prefer to go to a clinic. When I get a massage it's not for relaxation purposes but to work the knots out of my back. As I haven't really found a clinic here, well it's off to try the spa.

As I suspected requesting a swedish (deep tissue) massage at a spa isn't quite the massage I needed. I had to tell the girl not to be shy and then again ask her to push harder. I think she was afraid of hurting me, but that's what I wanted. No paid, no gain. However, it was nice just to be pampered. Can never go wrong with that.

After the massage I popped into a shoe store I hadn't been in yet and found a cool pair of casual shoes. They're somewhat what I was looking for - flat, casual, and comfortable for walking. They aren't Skechers, but these are pretty cool. They're Riekers and apparently good shoes. They're a bit on the funky side too which is nice to have something different. After my shoe purchase I was off to New Look where I was lucky to find a pair of jeans. This is my day! I have also kinda looked for a pair of jeans over the past few months and today finally found exactly what I wanted. So of course, I bought them. Good thing it's pay day! I poked around a few other stores, grabbed a Cornish pasty and walked back home.

Keith & I went to Hunky Dory for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. I've been to this restaurant before with work and wanted to take Keith as the food is really good. We enjoyed a nice evening of excellent food and good wine. I had a salmon and prawn stuffed ravioli topped with mussels to start, grilled sea bass as a main, then the best part was the baked chocolate pudding - to die for! So good, but now I'm so full!

Ah Thursdays

2008-02-28T19:39:00.002Z

Ah, I love Thursdays, mostly because they're my Fridays. I'm definitely spoiled. It's going to be tough when I have to work 5 days a week when I get a new job. The week was steady but not busy like last week. Still lots to do and projects to get out the door but it was a better pace this week which was nice.

We're heading to Speedy & Rach's to watch a movie and order Chinese. Haven't seen them for a bit so it'll be nice to hang out.

Our 1st Anniversary!

2008-02-27T22:06:00.002Z

Happy Anniversary Babe!

I can't believe Keith & I have been married a year! Tonight we were reminiscing about the crazy few days and events leading up to this day last year. If you need a recap, check out last year's blog post. It's so funny! Bizarre really more than anything the turn of events that would take the decision out of Keith's hands and create fate. A year later we're still going strong, being as foolish as ever (if not more so now), which makes our relationship somewhat unique and great. Life is too short to be serious all the time so why not carry on and laugh about it, I'm sure it keeps us young, healthy and happy. I wouldn't say marriage is a walk in the park as it has it's ups and downs and me arguing with myself (haha) but it's worth every minute of it.

I woke up this morning to my best friend beside me, hugging me and giving me a kiss on the forehead. Is there a better way to start the day? I came home to beautiful flowers and a card and he to a nice bottle of port and a card along with a funny/sappy poem I wrote him. We spent the evening feasting on Indian takeout, a bottle of wine and too much dark chocolate. We're spending Friday evening going out to dinner to celebrate. We'll also enjoy our trip to Budapest as an extension of our anniversary. Here's to another year!

Breakfast Outing

2008-02-24T20:31:00.001Z

The boys have decided Sunday breakfast must become a tradition. I'm not normally a breakfast person other than cereal or oatmeal but I decided to go along anyway for the social aspect. It was quite the turn out in the second week of this tradition. There were 10 of us and we met at Harvey's Wharf which turned out the be a nice restaurant in Falmouth on the waterfront. The weather was nice so we sat out on the patio. The food was really good and we sat around and chatted for awhile then finished off with take out gelato afterwards.

Keith and I spent the afternoon doing house stuff. He cleaned all the windows as they were becoming hard to see out of from the amount of wind and rain that we had in January. I cleaned the bathroom. How exciting. We decided to roast a chicken for supper so we grabbed the ingredients on the way home from Falmouth and put it all together after the cleaning was finished. It turned out really good. Now I'm complaining because tomorrow is Monday and I just don't like Mondays.

Town & Penzance

2008-02-23T20:39:00.002Z

Happy Birthday Danial!

This morning we put together some packages that should have been sent to Canada last month. After we dropped them off in the post we shopped around Helston for a bit with me still looking for Skechers and a jacket. I found a nice North Face jacket for £75! Good God!

After Helston we decided to go to Penzance to poke around town and to also check out the shops. Still no luck. At least I found a few pairs of Skechers even if they weren't in my size or the right colour. The mission continues. Once we were finished browsing we were kinda thirsty so we dropped into Weatherspoon's pub for a drink and nachos.

During our outing Bungy had rung to say he and Moe were at the Bell pub in Helston watching the 6 nations rugby and we should come meet them. We arrived home just before supper and relaxed for a bit. We got bored quickly by 6pm and decided to walk into town and meet the boys so we did. We spent a few hours at the Bell, then the Rodney. I decided to head home around 9:30pm as I was hungry and bored (I was just sipping). Keith stayed out as he's always good to go. I came home and enjoyed the peace and quiet and was in bed early as I was falling asleep at the computer. No hangover for me tomorrow.

My Job

2008-02-22T20:47:00.001Z

Another busy week at work. The main project I'm managing is finishing up next week and it's been crazy trying to get everything done chasing the suppliers and ensuring everything is completed and installed on time. The project is with RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) which is a very large charity in the UK.

RSPB is building a new visitor's centre in Wales and we're designing all the signage & wayfinding for the exterior and interpretation panels (information boards/panels you see/read when you visit historic sites like the Fortress of Louisbourg or Halifax Citadel) for the interior. It's a big project and is on super tight deadlines. So my job is to source suppliers and gather production quotes for the job, liaise with the client, manage the designers and ensure their completing the work, proofing their work and providing it to the client, ensure client approvals are received, manage the suppliers to ensure they have all artworks from us and everything is getting done and completed on time and within budget, arrange the site visits, installation and/delivery of the signage and ensure the client is happy; it's a lot of chasing people!

Friday is the final installation day and we have 4 different suppliers on the job which are visiting the site over the next 3 days to install everything. I pray to God everything goes well. We've experienced some hiccups over the past week but we've made it through them. I can only imagine what the next three days will bring. The centre grand opening is on Monday so it better go well!

Now that I'm finishing up this project I'm managing the artwork and production stages of another interpretation project, this one with English Heritage (Heritage sector for England) for one of its many properties. At least we have another month before those deadlines creep up. At the same time I'm looking after a few other clients with small projects/requests that keep me busy.

As for today I was up early and puttered around the house and did a bit of cleaning, laundry and errands. Keith arrived home around 3pm and we went into town to pick up a parcel that arrived and go to Tesco to get supper. We didn't do much for the evening except watch TV and relax.

Budapest Here We Come!

2008-02-17T12:23:00.000Z

Keith went out for breakfast with Jono in Falmouth and I stayed home so I could finally book our vacation we've been debating over for weeks. So it is settled, we're going to Budapest, Hungary! I'm so excited! I know many of you are thinking Budapest? Why the hell would you go there?

Well, in watching a travel show I learned that Budapest is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world and it's also called the City of Spas. Budapest sits on 118 thermal/hot springs that allow Budapest to be the city of spas. Apparently the baths are the last trace of Turkish culture and you can enjoy steam baths, saunas and massage services. In my researching the baths I learned the massage services require you in the nude! Not sure how brave I am for this one! Budapest is actually 2 cities separated by the Danube River; Buda on the west bank and Pest on the east bank. I think it will be quite an amazing and unique place to visit. We're only going for 2 nights but I'm sure we'll see what we need to. We had been debating several other places like Dublin (Ireland), Warsaw (Poland), Krakow (Poland), Geneva (Switzerland), Berlin (Germany) or Amsterdam but we (me really) finally decided on Budapest. It seemed to be the place with the most unique appeal and it was definitely cheaper than visiting Dublin which was the other main contender. Dublin is expensive and we were hoping to make a cheap trip as we're both traveling home to Canada this year. Maybe next year we'll visit Ireland.

Once Keith returned from breakfast, we ran some errands and made chili and greek salad for supper. The rest of the evening was about more relaxation.

Truro & Pubs

2008-02-16T12:18:00.000Z

Decided not to go to Plymouth after all. Our main reason for going was to visit the American Exchange but we discovered that there isn't actually one there. Instead we went to Truro to one of the sports stores as I need a new pair of shoes and a jacket. I'm trying to find a pair of Sketchers but wow it isn't easy to find a pair here. No luck yet, but hopefully soon. No luck on the jacket front either. It's gonna be tough to find a jacket like my Jacques Whitford one - it was a waterproof material so that's what I'm trying to find.

After shopping we stopped at the Norway Inn on the way home for a drink and munchies. Next we went to B&Q and Asda to pick up a few things we needed. During the evening we went to Porthleven to the Harbour Inn for a late supper.

Builders Here

2008-02-15T14:23:00.005Z

The last stage of the central heating replacement were the builders arriving this morning. They were here for a few hours to o the touch ups on paint and any holes that were left from piping that was removed. There were only 2 of them so the house wasn't manic like it was when the plumbers were here.

Keith's day was pretty quiet. A bunch on the guys gathered for a run along Looe Bar and that was the extent of their hard work today. He was home around 1pm. Not sure what the rest of the day holds. We're thinking of going to Plymouth tomorrow for a day trip. It's about 2 hours away.

Pretty quiet night. Made a nice supper, shared a bottle of wine and relaxed.

Electricians Here

2008-02-14T14:26:00.001Z

I waited until 9am for the electricians to arrive, but non one showed. I was a bit annoyed, but didn't mind too much as it got me into work a 1/2 hour late. Today was busy but not crazy until then end of the day things seemed to pile up all at once and I didn't leave work until 7pm! An hour and a half late. Guess that's what I get for being happy about missing a 1/2 hour this morning.

When I got home Keith had some munchies ready and a nice tall gin and tonic waiting on the counter for me. How nice! He knew I was starving and would definitely need a drink when I got home. Smart man! We ordered Indian for supper so we didn't have to cook. I guess today is Valentines Day...haha. We don't believe in Valentine's, so we don't celebrate it. Too commercial for us. Why do you need a day to show someone you love them? I believe it's not sincere but pressured. I'd much rather receive something or have something nice done for me on no occasion at all. So much more sincere and special then. Anyways, that's just my 2 cents!

Plumbers Here

2008-02-13T14:34:00.001Z

The plumbers arrived this morning at 8am and within minutes the house was manic. I think there were about 6-8 guys in and out of the house. I had a 1/2 hour before leaving for work while I ate breakfast and made my lunch. It wasn't very peaceful! I was glad to be going to work. When I arrived home the guys were leaving. They gave me a quick run through of how to operate the new boiler and radiators and they were out the door. They didn't leave too much mess. They even found the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed up their mess.

Keith was on duty tonight so he didn't get home until late. He was lucky that there wasn't any night flying and at the last minute one of the ground runs that was suppose to go was cancelled. He was happy. Spent some time looking for cheap flights and researching different cities to see where is the best place to go. Still no decision made.

Central Heating Replacement

2008-02-12T14:39:00.001Z

Defense Housing Estates is replacing the central heating in all the married quarters. The current ones are too old and inefficient. Ours is being replaced tomorrow so we had to clear everything away from the radiators and clear out the airing cupboard which is the closet where the hot water tank is. There are shelves in it for your towels so your towels are always warm. What a simple pleasure. Not looking forward to having the house out of order for the next 3 days, but it'll be nice to have new heating, even though we haven't had any problems with ours.

Monday

2008-02-11T14:42:00.001Z

I was kind of dreading going to work today. I had been dreading it all weekend actually. Probably because this current project I'm managing is under such tight deadlines and I just didn't want to go back to the stress. Not that it's huge stress, it's just busy!

The day ended up not being bad at all. It's always a success to me when Monday is a good day. Anyway who knows me knows I hate Mondays and I'm not always a ray of sunshine for the first few hours of the day. Haha.

Two things really started and ended my day today. First when I woke up it was light out! Yay! That's always a great start to the day. It's so hard to get up when it's still dark out especially when I don't get up until 7am - it should be light then! The second thing was the longer evening. It was still light just before 6pm! I almost made it home before dark. Good sign that the spring is on its way!

Nature Walk

2008-02-10T14:47:00.002Z

Woke up to another beautiful day. Lauren ad I spent some time on Facebook setting her up while the boys and the kids walked to the park. When Lauren and I were finished we met up with them. We walked around the pond at Coronation Park then we went to a nature trail along the river. It's a really nice walk and very peaceful. We all enjoyed it. And the best part is, is the trees are all in bloom. The apple trees look beautiful and are just exploding with white blossoms! And it's February! Woohoo! The daffodils are also all out as well as many other flowers starting to bloom. Amazing!

Dale & Lauren headed off mid afternoon and Keith and I didn't do much for the rest of the day and evening. We spent sometime online looking for a destination for a short trip during his Easter leave. We haven't finalized anything yet - there are so many options! We're thinking Geneva, Warsaw, Budapest or Dublin. My pick would be Budapest as it's the city of spas! There are 'baths' that you visit and swim or have a massage treatments, etc. There's one called Gellert Hall and it's apparently the nicest one. It looks quite ancient and very impressive. But we'll see, it's hard to decide!

Truro for the Day

2008-02-09T14:59:00.001Z

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. After breakfast we all headed to Truro to go to the market. We bought some goodies at the market - fantastic cheeses, breads and olives! We walked around town a bit and stopped at a pub for some grub and a drink. We ended up spending the entire afternoon in Truro.

Back at our place I seriously needed a nap. I'm not a napper but it was a necessity today. While I napped, Lauren, Dale and Keith took the kids to the park just down from the house. I woke up refreshed and glad I'd crashed for awhile.

We had a quite evening and watched a movie.

Dale & Lauren Here

2008-02-08T14:59:00.001Z

Keith arrived home at 8am this morning! Haha. He stayed at Jono's last night after their course party. He crawled in bed with me and we slept until mid-late morning. Sleep was definitely a requirement for me as I didn't get home until 2:30am and it was 3am before I went to bed. When I woke at 8am I felt like I had been drinking for days and I didn't even have much to drink last night. Amazing how sleep affects you.

Once we arose from our comas we tidied up a bit and went grocery shopping. Dale & Lauren and the kids arrived around supper time. It was so good to see them. Jack has made a lot of progress since we saw him about 4 weeks ago. He's now crawling, sitting up and standing. He's quite the little explorer. He'll be hard to keep track of as soon as he starts to walk - which doesn't seem very far off. Olivia is so cute, she gets so excited to us, especially Keith. She just loves Keith to death.

Keith and I cooked a big supper of salmon, greek salad, fixings and apple crisp for desert. We washed it all down with lots of wine and enjoyed chatting around the table for the rest of the evening.

What a Day at Work!

2008-02-07T19:29:00.001Z

What a day at work! It was absolutely crazy! I enjoy being busy but this was beyond. I barely knew my name at some points.

Didn't get home until late but called Rach before I left work and she wanted to go dancing! The boys are out tonight on their course dinner so they'll be in fine form - they started at lunchtime and are probably out for the night! Rach and I planned to have a girls night but dancing wasn't in the original plan. When I talked to her after the day I just had I was stoked to go dancing! She came here for a drink and some girl chat then we headed out to one of the clubs called the Beehive. It was pretty quiet at first for a Thursday night out but eventually it got busier. After the Beehive closed we went to Trewlany's but it was dead. We stayed for a 1/2 hour then decided it was time for food. We grabbed some greasy take out then went home. Keith had called me earlier to say he wouldn't be home, he was crashing at Jono's in Falmouth. Must cheaper than paying for a taxi in this country! I ended up not getting to bed until 3am - tomorrow is gonna suck!

Olivia Kotzer's Baptism

2008-02-03T19:34:00.002Z

Happy Birthday Shannahan!!!

Today was Mark & Laura's (Canadians) Olivia's baptism. She was born in December and Mark and Laura invited us to her christening today. It was a small affair, but really nice. They had a few of their British friends there as well. Afterwards, they invited us all back to their place for lunch. We had a great feast. I got a bit into the wine so I was feeling a bit looped on a Sunday afternoon! Haha. We spent the entire afternoon hanging out and chatting with them and the two other couples who are actually their neighbors and pretty much ours. It was nice to meet more people who live almost right beside us. We had a great afternoon.

Off to Padstow

2008-02-02T19:42:00.003Z

Woke up to a beautiful day. Thank God because it's been awhile since we've seen sunshine and no rain. We decided it wasn't a day to sit in the house so we headed to Truro to the market. It was my first time being to the Saturday market. It's small but it has three great things - a fantastic baker, excellent cheese stand and large variety olive bar. I instantly fell in love.

Once we had purchased all three of these important items, we hoped back in the car and went to St Mawgan to the RAF base for the American NEX. We stocked up on some more North American foods and were on our way again. Next we were off to Padstow.

Padstow is about an hour and a half from here and is a small coastal village which is very popular with surfers. We had heard lots of good things so we decided to go. We spent a few hours walking along the water, around the town and to the beach, checking out the little shops and of course sampling the wares at one of the pubs. It ended up being a really nice getaway for the day. We relaxed for the rest of the evening as we didn't arrive home until after supper.

Chris & Vern and Eric Leave

2008-02-01T21:03:00.001Z

Keith & Dale took Eric to the train station early this morning so he could get to London to catch his afternoon flight. Chris & Vern leave tonight on the sleeper (overnight) train to London as they have an early flight tomorrow. Didn't everyone just get here?

Jamie, Keith, Chris, Vern and I went to Land's End and St Ives for the day. We had to show them the sights before they left. It was super windy and cold, but we enjoyed it anyway. Had supper at a pub in St Ives then came back to our place so Chris and Vern could get packed. Keith took them to the train station at 10pm after we said our goodbyes. It was sad to see them leave. It was wonderful to have them here.

I'm back to work tomorrow but Keith is off until Monday. After he got back from Truro, he and Jamie headed to town and he showed Jamie around the booming Helston pubs. They ended up having a good time and stumbled home as drunken fools.

Girlie Day With Rach

2008-02-01T19:59:00.002Z

10 months today! Can you believe it's almost a year we've been here? I can't!

Rachel was off today too so we made plans to head into Falmouth and spend the afternoon browsing and chatting. We grabbed lunch first at 5 Degrees West which is a really nice restaurant/pub. The next few hours we strolled along the high street in Fal and visited several shops. I finally bought a new cell phone today. It hurt me to do it but I had no other choice. We finally had enough late afternoon and headed home.

Later in the evening Rach and Speedy come here then we went to Anglo Asia for a late Indian supper. What a great day!

Movie at Rach & Speedy's

2008-01-31T20:03:00.001Z

It's been awhile since we had a movie night so we went over to Rach & Speedy's and watched 3:10 to Yuma. I hadn't heard of the movie but it turned out to be pretty good.

Walk in the Park

2008-01-27T20:05:00.001Z

I got up this morning full of ambition. I went to work cleaning and accomplished quite a bit before Keith strolled in around 11am. He was feeling great considering he was very drunk last night. He pisses me off - I think about alcohol and I've got a hangover!

Finished cleaning and doing a bit of running around. Mike stopped by for a quick visit then we went for a walk with Rach and Speedy. They had to take their dog Max out for a stroll so we went down to a trail close to Coronation Park. It was the first time I've been on that one and it's quite nice.

Australia Day

2008-01-26T20:09:00.001Z

Happy Birthday Tracy!

Keith is on course with an Aussie and today is Australia Day, just like our Canada Day. Jono (the Aussie) hosted a big party at his place in Falmouth. Everyone from Keith's course and the senior course were there. Most people I'd met before but still a few I hadn't. Jono had borrowed a spit, BBQ and outdoor heater/lanterns to keep warm outdoors. He slow roasted a lamb on the spit all day. I was a bit disturbed by the look of this but the meat was amazing. Later he cooked up a ton of sausages on the BBQ. I had a a drink or two when we first arrived around 4pm, but that was it for me as I was driving. I had been planning to enjoy the party and several drinks but with the sinus infection I got this week I thought it best that I didn't. We had a great night and I left Keith behind around midnight. He wanted to continue enjoying the party so he stayed at Jono's for the night.

French Manicure

2008-01-25T20:16:00.002Z

Treated myself to a french manicure today. It's been awhile since I pampered myself so I decided today was the day. Since I ruined my manicure Lauren had got me for her wedding I was anxious to get another. This time I was much more careful!

Speedy and Rach asked us over for supper so we headed over and hung out for a bit until Rach got home from work. After we ate a late supper we popped into the Seven Stars pub for a few drinks - well the boys had a few drinks; we had pop. Haha.

Very Low Key Day

2008-01-19T20:20:00.001Z

Keith and I had such a lazy day, so lazy we were bored! Late afternoon he went over the help Rach and Speedy do a bit of moving into their new place. Rach said there was nothing I could do as it was all heavy stuff the boys had to move so I stayed home.

Rach and Speedy came over that night and we had a few drinks, then Rach and I went dancing while the boys stayed here. Went to the Beehive and had a great time except my coat got stolen! I was so mad! It was my Jacques Whitford coat that I live in and the Highlands Links coat Dad gave me which I also live in (I wear it as a liner in the winter). My cell phone and leather gloves were in the pockets! Bastards. It wasn't the best end to a fun night!

Jono's

2008-01-18T21:36:00.000Z

Jono (the Aussie Keith is on course with) decided to have a few people to his place tonight. Keith and I went over for a few hours and hung out. About a dozen of us were there and I got a chance to get to know the senior course crew a bit better as some of them were there. Pretty low key night but nice for a chance. I hadn't met Jono until tonight and he seems like a great guy. Gotta love the Aussies.

Lazy Weekend

2008-01-13T21:34:00.000Z

Keith and I enjoyed a very lazy weekend. Well, not totally lazy I guess as I spent Friday doing laundry and cleaning. But other than that it was lazy and uneventful that I can remember anyway! Updating these blogs a month and a half later is hard on the memory!

Jamie Left

2008-01-06T21:32:00.000Z

Jamie was up early as she had an early flight back home. It was sad to see her go too. It was so good to have a girlfriend here with me for awhile. I left the hotel an hour after her to catch my train back home. I landed home mid afternoon and Keith picked me up. I relaxed for the evening being so happy to be home.

Back to work tomorrow...yuck!

Touring London

2008-01-05T21:22:00.002Z

This morning we headed to Camden markets which I've heard so much about. I bought a cute little black dress that I can't wait to wear! Also bought a funky hat which was a different purchase for me. Grabbed some lunch on the go here and headed back to the central area. We did lots more walking. I took Jamie to Bond Street where the high end designer shops are and along Regent Street which is a big shopping street that is more affordable. We met up with Kori on Regent and walked back to buy theatre tickets for tonight. We decided to go see Rent. Kori then went back to her hotel and Jamie and I went to a little cafe and had some strawberry desserts that were so good.

After we had our sweet tooth satisfied we took a boat ride from the London Eye location down the Thames to the Tower of London. We toured the tower which was very cool and saw the Crown Jewels. Wow! Impressive!

After the tower we headed back to our hotel to get changed and drop off our bags. We met Kori and Kat and grabbed a very quick supper at a pub before the show. The show was at a small, cozy theatre and it was my first experience seeing a live musical. It was not quite what I was expecting as I expected glitter and glam but Rent is a very simple, low key musical. It was still excellent! Afterwards, it was back to our hotels.

More London pics:
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